Tag Archives: hockey

but it made me laugh… because seriously, I’ve watched them sitting there, waiting, knowing there’s no chance they are going to see action tonight, or this week, or barely a few times this season. click thru only if you promise not to be offended.

I finally saw the screen adaptation of the Chuck Palaniuk novel. pretty much exactly what I expected; if the two lead actors were named Norton and Pitt, it might have been as big as Fight Club (MetaCritic was not so kind). then again, Fight Club wasn’t that big at the box office, but grew a cult following after the initial release. this will have a similar, but much smaller, cult following among Palaniuk/FightClub fans… beyond that, I wouldn’t expect the audience to grow any. I think the actors and the screenplay are virtually on-par with FC; in fact, I didn’t realize reading the book how similar it was to FC — the support group scenes, etc… anyhow, worth a rental if your a fan of the book. the “rape” scene was hilarious (yes, I realize the insensitivity/absurdity of that statement — but you have to see it to understand).

for those of you that thought this post had anything to do with the Caps, shame on you;

UNLEASH THE FURY!!!!

ok, that’s not entirely true — the Caps are on Versus again, and it’s not part of our cable package. we pay enough for cable, and we wouldn’t get a whole lot out of the mid-tier/”premium” pack — but ARGGH.

Versus is your source for Bull Riding, NHL Hockey, and Tour de France Cycling. I’m pretty sure killer will agree with me that only one of those is a sport. Why would I pay an extra $5/month to get this waste of broadcast bandwidth?

it’s not that there isn’t hockey on TV tonight — Russia vs. Belarus is on “US”, “Universal Sports”, which seems to be NBC-backed (hello! they carry NHL, don’t they?) and mostly runs snowboarding, curling, and super-giant slalom (skiing). now, the bright-shining Canadian core deep within me is really quite taken by the fact that there is a channel that covers curling (and I actually watched the Canadian women put Spot Rock to the Chinese a few weeks ago), but it’s outweighed by the fact that this apparent throw-away channel DOESN’T COVER HOCKEY.

my other alternative tonight (as I’ve already missed the opening face-off, and my personal pizza is still in the oven) is to buy the NHL GameCenter Playoffs Day Pass for $19.95. ($19.95!!?!) apparently that does not come with $19.95 worth of beer, so after my pizza I might head over to a local sports bar…

or maybe I’ll just sit and listen to the game, the way kids used to a hundred years ago. I remember stories my grandfather used to tell — his family sitting by the warmth of the fire, gathering around their laptop, listening as the game streamed to them over the Intertubes (as it was called then). ah, the good old days.

[update: cripe! missed the first 6 minutes and the first goal. the play-by-play feed didn’t start at 7:00 (or 7:05) — Go Caps!]

[update: so I go to a local ‘sports’ bar, watch the game, and the satellite feed repeatedly dropped due to rain. unfortunately the feed was fine when the Pens scored the winning goal.]

as I reported a few days ago, Wendel Clarke had two, clear, “proudest moments” in his hockey career.

it made me think of what my two proudest hockey moments might be.

let’s see… I didn’t get drafted — I quit youth hockey when it became incompatible with my sleeping-in schedule…

I suppose the first is my role as Faculty Advisor to the Salisbury State Hockey Club. This was back in 1995/1996, and they needed some “faculty” support. I was a contract employee with the university, and that seemed to fit the bill. SU hockey was fun, and it’s really the only year I played that was full-contact (everything else has been “adult hockey”, aka “we all have to work in the morning, so no rough stuff”), but if my involvement as ‘faculty’ had anything to do with the continuation of the program and the ability of the team to continue, then that’s a substantial accomplishment. I also got my head shaved after a big win (or was it a big loss?), which tested the limits of my first (and current) wife.

What is still amazing to me is that my wife (girlfriend at the time) actually traveled with us on the school/state bus, and somehow thought it was a good idea to stick with me. And this wasn’t a nice charter bus; this was a 12-person van with hockey bags in an open trailer… I think she knitted on one of the road trips. No doubt after that — she was a keeper.

Nowadays, I hear the team is actually drawing people from the DC area to play (no scholarships or anything, but something). So who knows; Go Gulls!

as for my second proudest moment… let’s hope I have a few years left on the ice to figure that one out.

“Several years ago when I retired as a player, I stated the two proudest moments of my hockey career were when I was drafted first overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs and second, the day I was named captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs,” Clark said during a brief speech. “Tonight’s the official hat trick.” [link]

That night (last night) was the night his number was retired with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

I guess this is proof that I wasn’t a Leafs fan in the 80’s, because I don’t remember him as a big enforcer. When I think “wild-eyed 5-minute major for fighting”, I think Tie Domi. But You-Tube has plenty of reminders of just how much this guy gave for the game, and for the Leafs. I do remember the McSorley/Gilmour debacle, as that was the year I became a Leafs fan.

[man, at 0:41 there is a moment when McSorley looks like he could have gone end-over-end, and Clark would have had the better of him… all but for 1/16th of an edge of ice.]

Before that, in the 80’s, when I wasn’t much of a fan, my new friends at summer camp tried to convince me that Wendel Clarke was their uncle. It didn’t take much convincing, since I was all like “Wendel who?” And it turns out that the joke was really on me, as they were “Clarke” and he was “Clark”, but that didn’t stop me from asking how their uncle was doing… I guess the joke continues to be on me.

It’s weird being in Washington, and having the captian here be number 17 with the name Clark; now there’s hardly a game that goes by that I don’t think about Mr. Wendel.

Also makes me wonder if time will be so kind to Mr. Sundin, who has clearly been one of the most prolific Leafs, but who is leaving under such strained circumstances.

Whatev; looks like Gilmour is getting his due — his number will be raised in Toronto on Jan. 31.

settling in to the Caps game tonight, I’m proud to say I’ve watched all the locally televised games this year — 3 for 3, and I listened to them beat up on the Canucks on the radio (crappy AM radio, no less). I’ve got tix for six regular season games locked in, which is about how many games I typically see spread out over two seasons.

I don’t know if that line worked for my teammate all those years back, but it might be worth a shot.

Ladies in Leafs t-shirts and jerseys are definitely on my list of favorite things, but it looks like she has a twin that is a Caps fan…

Nice.

Maybe she’d like to accompany my friend Killer to the Leafs/Caps game in December. Oh snap, I forgot he can’t make that game… I guess they’ll just have to accompany me. B-dog, can I buy out your ticket for that night?